I am finally returned, rested and recovered from CPAC. Fortunately, unlike other years, this CPAC only forced me to confront my claustrophobia in the main hallways, and not in a dark and dank ballroom, which should cut down on the post traumatic stress quite a bit.

There are lots of good reasons to oppose President Obama's move to grant a form of amnesty to millions of illegal aliens -- reasons that transcend anybody's position on broader issues of immigration reform.

But as we head into this battle over tying that amnesty to DHS funding and the beating Republicans are taking in the media (as always) for standing up for exceptionally important principles, I think that one particular argument could be the most effective in terms of public opinion and putting Democrats on the defensive for blocking a bill which would fund DHS but block amnesty:

Amnesty will allow illegal aliens to collect money retroactively from US taxpayers. Admittedly there are probably not very many illegals who filed tax returns, but those who did - even if they didn't pay any tax - could apply for the Earned Income Tax Credit and receive a check from the federal government.

This is insane and offensive to any American of common sense, again regardless of their view on immigration reform overall.

A short time ago, Ross praised UN Ambassador Samantha Power's speech to AIPAC.

He began with the caveat, "Frankly, I don't trust anyone who works for Barack Obama because I don't trust Obama himself."

Ross should have stopped right then and there.

First of all, I don't buy it for a minute when she claims the Obama Administration is combating anti-Semitism around the world and has Israel's back at the UN every day. For the past six years, the Obama Administration has given Israel the back of its hand.

Former big league outfielder and third baseman Minnie Minoso was found dead this morning in his car. His family believes it was due to a heart condition. Minoso is officially listed as 89 but might have been 92.

Born in Cuba, Minoso would attract the attention of Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck while playing in the Negro Leagues and signed him in 1948. The following year Minoso made his big league debut becoming the first black Cuban to play in MLB.

However, early in the 1951 season, Minoso was dealt to the Chicago White Sox in a seven player trade that also involved the Philadelphia A's. Minoso would finish runner up in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting behind Gil McDougald of the New York Yankees. Minoso led the AL in both stolen bases and triples that year and would do so two more times in his career. He was also named to the first of seven AL All-Star teams. Minoso would also earn three Gold Gloves for his outfield play.

We now know that Jeb Bush wishes to be known, at least for the purposes of 2016, as a “reform-minded” conservative. His brother was a compassionate conservative. His father a kinder-gentler conservative.

Plain old jive conservatives are entitled to wonder how many generations it will take for the Bush family to produce a conservative who doesn’t require an adjective to separate him from the common ruck.

You might have thought my note's title was some sort of cryptic preview of a political comment, but it isn't.

I really do just want to suggest an interesting idea for a gift for yourself or someone else you think would appreciate it...and for the record I have no financial interest or any other tie to the company.

Anyway, the idea is a "fine writing instrument," which is to say a great-quality, highly engineered, beautiful, and functional pen, made right here in the USA.

I just interviewed Reid Hazelton, the founder of the American Pen Company on my Saturday morning radio show and he brought up a great point: "It's as important to your personal and business reputation to have a quality pen as it is a good suit, pair of fine shoes and a nice brief case of sorts. Would you pull out a BIC on a $750,000 deal?"

The American Spectator Foundation is the 501(c)(3) organization responsible for publishing The American Spectator magazine and training aspiring journalists who espouse traditional American values. Your contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. Each donor receives a year-end summary of their giving for tax purposes.